Main Dishes

Vegan Sesame Orange Seitan

topphotoVegan Sesame Orange Seitan

Way better than takeout. Crispy, delicious and super yummy. Just make it all ready!

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Vegan Sesame Orange Seitan

For the sesame seitan strips:

  • 1/2  of this seitan recipe (3 cutlets) OR 1 package store bought seitan OR for GF peeps, 1/2 package soy curls prepared according to package directions, OR 1 block store bought tempeh, cut into thin strips
  • 1/3 C. non GMO cornstarch
  • 1/3 C. raw sesame seeds
  • 1/4 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 t. ground black pepper
  • 2 T. ground golden flax seed
  • 1 t. baking powder
  • 1/3 C. water
  • 1/4 C. expeller pressed safflower oil (gasp! This is the first recipe on my site where I fry something in oil!)

For the Orange Sauce:

  • juice of 2 oranges (about 1 cup)
  • zest of 1 orange
  • 2 T. bragg’s liquid aminos
  • 2 T. agave
  • 1 t. minced fresh ginger
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1/4 t. ground black pepper
  • 1 t. non GMO cornstarch
  • sliced scallions for garnish

Method: In a large skillet, start heating the safflower oil over medium heat. Then, in a medium bowl, combine the cornstarch, sesame seeds, baking power, water, ground flax, salt and pepper. Put the seitan/tempeh strips into the batter and gently stir to coat. Working in batches, put strips of seitan in the hot oil and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side until golden, I needed to do three batches to cook all my seitan, once strips are cooked, place on a paper towel to absorb any excess oil. Set the cooked strips in the oven on warm while you make the orange sauce. To make the orange sauce, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, pour into the same skillet you used to cook the seitan and cook down for 3-4 minutes until the sauce is thick and syrupy. At this point you can add the seitan to the sauce to flavor it completely, or if you like your seitan extra crispy, you can drizzle the sauce over each individual plate. I served mine on white basmati rice, because I had ran out of brown… Don’t make the same mistake. Sprinkle chopped scallions over the seitan for extra yumminess.

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Individual Vegan Margherita Pizzas with Homemade Fresh Moxarella Cheese

Close up 2Vegan Margherita Pizza

If you don’t want to make a pizza from scratch, then use bottled pizza sauce, and a pre-bought crust, but whatever you do, Please make the fresh Moxarella Cheese. It’s nearly instant.

SlicedHomemade Vegan Moxarella, without any artificial anything. It browns and stretches.

Top ViewIndividual Pizzas Make Everyone Happy!

Vegan Margherita Pizzas 

This Recipe Makes 4 individual pizzas. Don’t forget to have fresh tomatoes and basil on hand. First, start the dough.

Pizza Dough:

This crust contains gluten, for several gluten free crust options, click here.

  • 2 C. organic all purpose flour
  • 1 C. organic whole wheat flour
  • 2 1/4 t. active dry yeast (1 packet)
  • 1 cup warm water
  • 2 t. sea salt
  • 1 t. agave

Method: Combine all ingredients and knead for 10 minutes. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 60 minutes until doubled. While the dough is rising, make the pizza sauce and the fresh moxarella cheese.

The Dough

The Pizza Sauce:

  • one 14 ounce can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 cloves minced garlic
  • 1/2 t. dried thyme
  • 1/2 t. dried oregano
  • 1/2 t. dried basil
  • 1 t. agave
  • sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

Method: saute the garlic in a little vegetable broth or the olive oil in a small saucepan for a minute or two on medium heat. Add all the other ingredients. Reduce heat to low and let simmer while you make the Moxarella Cheese.

Pizza Sauce

Fresh Moxarella Cheese:

I wanted to call this “Foxy Moxy,” but that name has been taken by some unsavory characters on the web….

This cheese stays in a “melted” type form until baked, and then it forms a nice crust, like dairy cheese does. It’s not intended to be eaten plain (like real dairy fresh mozzarella can). It’s also fairly salty to make it stand out in your recipes, if you prefer less salt, please feel free to reduce to 1/2 teaspoon, or less, but the flavor won’t be as pronounced.

Note: This recipe is one of the most popular recipes on my site and is therefore one of the most copied/imitated. If you make this cheese and like it enough to blog about it, please have the ethics to respect me, my creativity and the weeks that I spent developing this recipe by simply linking to this post rather than sharing the recipe on your own site. ❤️ -Somer

  • 1/4 cup raw cashews (soaked in water for several hours and then drained IF you don’t have a high powered blender)
  • 1 cup hot water
  • 2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon tapioca starch
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • 1 small garlic clove, minced
  • 3/4  teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Method: Blend all ingredients together in a high speed blender until completely smooth, about 1 minute. Pour into a small saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over medium high heat. After a couple of minutes the mixture will start to look weird, like it’s curdling or separating. This is totally normal, reduce heat to medium and KEEP stirring so you don’t burn the cheese to the bottom of the pot. Keep cooking and stirring til really thick (about 2-3 more minutes) and the mixture becomes like a cohesive mass of melted dairy cheese and stretches like in the photo below. Remove from heat and let cool a bit while you assemble the pizzas. Moxarella stores well in a sealed container in the fridge for a few days and can be used to make excellent grilled cheese sandwiches, mac and cheese, etc….Moxarella

Assembly: Your dough should be nearly ready now, so when it hits 60 minutes or is doubled, punch it down and divide it into four pieces. Preheat the oven to 500°. Roll out the dough on a floured surface as thin or thick as you like. We opted for thicker pizzas this round. Spread each pizza with 1/4 of the pizza sauce. Top with fresh tomato slices, dollops of the fresh moxarella cheese and fresh basil leaves like shown in the photo below. Pre-BakeBake individual pizzas for 10-12 minutes on a baking sheet until cheese and the crusts are nicely browned. Note: there is a very fine line between nicely browned and burnt here, so please, watch your pizzas carefully. Sprinkle pizzas with a bit of additional chopped fresh basil once out of the oven if desired. BiteI won’t take any responsibility for anyone burning their mouth on hot cheese.Margherita Pizza

Mini Vegan “Meat” Loaves

Mini Meat Loaves

Many of you know that when I went vegan I went cold tofurky. I went from eating meat and dairy on a near daily basis to none at all. Zip, zilch, nada. I completely cleaned out my fridge freezer and pantry so I wouldn’t be tempted to keep eating products that were harming my health.

I’ve always been a decent cook, but I used to plan my meals around what cut of meat I had in the freezer or fridge and add sides from there. As you can imagine, I was in for a bit of a shock when I cut all animal products out. I didn’t know how to plan my meals anymore and had about 3 really rough months in the kitchen. Some meals were barely edible. I’m far beyond that point now and feel like I’ve found my vegan groove. I don’t crave meat anymore, but sometimes I enjoy creating “meaty” counterparts since that was the way we ate for so long. These mini “meat” loaves aren’t like seitan or gardein or anything else you’ve had yet. But I think you’ll love them.

Bite

Mini “Meat” Loaves

Inspired by a meatball recipe in The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions

  • 1 C. tomato sauce
  • 4 T. almond butter
  • 1/4 C. nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 C. vital wheat gluten
  • 1 very finely diced onion
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 t. ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 C. fresh whole grain bread crumbs
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • 1 t. dried oregano
  • 1 t. dried parsley
  • 1 t. smoked paprika
  • 1 T. vegan worcestershire or 1 t. vegemite

Glaze: combine the following in a small container:

  • 1/2 C. Hienz organic ketchup
  • 1/4 C. pure maple syrup
  • 1.5 T. Braggs raw apple cider vinegar

Method: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Water saute the onion and garlic until the onion is nearly translucent, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Whisk tomato sauce, almond butter and worcestershire together. In a separate bowl Mix dry ingredients together including spices. Combine the dry and wet ingredients with a wooden spoon, then add the sauteed onions and garlic. Lightly spray half of a 12 cup muffin tin, this will make 6-8 mini “meat” loaves. Press the mixture into the tins, then top each mini “meat” loaf with some of the glaze. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from muffin tins and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

DinnerI’ll be bringing you my Truck Stop Jo Jo Potato Wedges recipe (pictured above) on Friday the 14th, but in the meantime, stay tuned for my Happy Herbivore Abroad Blog Tour and giveaway on Wednesday the 12th.

 

Vedged Out Thanksgiving Menu

A Vegan Thanksgiving for 21 Guests including the Ladies at

Good Clean Food and An Unrefined Vegan

Bloggers, If I’ve included a link to your post and you’d like a photo of your recipe to be included here, please give me permission to share your photo in the comments below. I would have loved to make and photograph everything in advance, but I’m not that cool. xx -Somer

Appetizers

Vedged Out’s Macadamia Nut Brie En Croute

Vegetable Platter with Hummus

 Salad

Sunday Morning Banana Pancake’s Baby Spinach Salad with Cranberries, Pecans and a Maple Basalmic Vinaigrette (she uses cherries in hers, we’re going to use dried cranberries)

photo used with permission 

Bread

Vegan Monologue’s Buttery Pan Rolls

Amanda’s Whole Grain Cranberry Walnut Sourdough Bread

(this is what we slathered the Brie En Croute all over! They were made for each other!)

sourdough bread

Drinks

Lemon Seltzer Water

Cranberry Fizzy

 

Mains and Sides

In Pursuit of More’s Cashew Loaf

Dad’s Wild Rice, Cranberry and Pine Nut Stuffing

Dad’s Pine Nut and Glazed Onion Mashed Potatoes

Vedged Out’s Sauteed Green Beans, Red Onions and Radishes

Butternut Squash Puree with Orange and Ginger

Fruited Cranberry Compote

photo used with permission

Post Punk Kitchen’s traditional Green Bean Casserole

Maple Glazed Sweet Potatoes

Keepin it Kind’s Miso Mushroom Gravy

 

Desserts

An Unrefined Vegan’s Apple Pie

applepie3

photos used with permission

Razzleberry Pie

Gabby’s No Bake Pumpkin Mousse Cake

An Unrefined Vegan’s Hazelnut Pumpkin Cheesecake w/ Chocolate-Hazelnut Topping

Hazelnut cheesecake

Vegan Coconut Whipped Cream

Vegan Pumpkin Pies

and Vegan Ice Cream

Vedged Out Calzone and a Welcome Party for George Monroy

How would you like to sink your teeth into that ooey gooey deliciousness? I’ve made some fantastic Calzones for a special welcome party today. I hope you’ll pull up a chair and join us!

Vedged Out Calzone

The No Rise Calzone Dough:

  • 2 C. whole wheat flour
  • 1 C. unbleached organic flour
  • 1 T. active dry yeast
  • 1 C. warm water (you may need up to 1/4 C. more water depending on your dough consistency)
  • 1 t. sea salt

Method: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine all ingredients in your kneading apparatus (I use my bread maker) you can also use your hands 🙂 knead dough for 10 minutes or until smooth and elastic. Let rest for 10 minutes. Divide into 6 or 8 pieces (I did 6 pieces and it made for a thick calzone crust, next time I’ll do 8) and roll out into very thin 8 inch rounds. I stick my dough between pieces of waxed or parchment paper to keep the dough rounds from sticking to each other while I work with the other pieces.

The Calzone Sauce:

  • 1/2 C. (1 can) tomato paste
  • 1/2 C. tomato sauce
  • 1 t. garlic salt
  • 2 t. italian seasonings
  • few grounds black pepper
  • few dashes crushed red pepper (optional)

Mix all together and set aside.

The Fillings:

  • 1/2 C. chopped and de-seeded kalamata olives
  • 1 can drained and rinsed quartered artichoke hearts in brine
  • 1/4 C. dry pack sun dried tomatoes
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1/4 – 1/2 block of my Smoked Coconut Gouda (click for yesterday’s recipe), grated

Fill calzones like pictured above, dividing the fillings equally. Then wet the edges of the dough with a bit of water, fold over and crimp together with the tines of a fork.

Prick the top of the calzone all over with the tines of the fork to let steam escape. Scatter calzones so that they are a few inches apart on two baking trays sprayed lightly with cooking spray. Place trays in preheated oven and bake for 15-18 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through the baking time.

These keep and travel well for next day leftovers in school or office lunches

Now that we’re all enjoying these delicious calzones that I’ve made for this Welcome Party, please offer a hearty welcome to the newest blogger on my blogroll, George Monroy. I ‘met’ George after my Forks Over Knives Testimonial went viral (as of today, it’s still on the front page of the Forks Over Knives Website). I’ve since learned that George had a heart attack in May of 2012, just 5 short months ago. His doctor advised him to watch Forks Over Knives and adopt a plant based diet to save his life and prevent future heart attacks.

George in the Hospital following his Heart Attack with his son Caine of Caine’s Arcade Fame

Here’s George today, as you can see he’s lost a fair amount of weight, he’s also inexplicably lost all his hair and turned all “vegan cool dude” Here’s what George said to me when I asked him how his health is doing now: “My Diabetes is almost gone now. My blood pressure is normal again. I’ve lost 10 additional pounds in the last three months without even watching what I eat. So far this plant based diet is a cure for everything!!!”

George posts incredible photos of what he is eating every day on his facebook page Smart Hearts Aftermarket

I recognized an incredible food blogger in the making and asked him to join our ranks and get a blog ASAP! He is going to have the final dessert post in the Virtual Vegan Potluck on Nov. 1st! I can’t wait to see what fantastic dish he comes up with. Please join me and follow George, on his new blog:

George’s Smart Hearts

If you haven’t all ready met his son Caine, please check him out now. If you have the time, watch both videos, they will inspire the crap out of you. Warning: ladies, have tissues handy.

A plant based diet has given George a new lease on life, to watch Caine grow and succeed. I wish him all the best, I hope you will too.

Not Beef Stew

Sometimes you just need some Heavy Duty Comfort Food

The kind that sticks to your ribs and makes you pleasantly stuffed.

Not Beef Stew

Seasoned Soy Curls:

  • 1/2 package Butler Soy Curls (I’m trying out some new vegan products for MOFO) prepared according to package directions and drained, these are GMO free, organic and use the whole soy bean. If you can’t source these or if you prefer, you can use 16 oz of cubed baby portobellos instead.
  • 1/4 C. white whole wheat flour
  • 1 t. garlic powder
  • 1 t. dried oregano
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • 1/2 t. ground pepper
  • 1 t. sea salt

Using a large saucepan or dutch oven over medium heat, combine all ingredients above and brown the soy curls on all sides until nicely golden and crispy. You may need to use a bit of pan spray. Remove soy curls from dutch oven and set aside.

Add to dutch oven with a bit of water to saute the veggies in:

The Stew Veggies:

  • 1 diced onion
  • 4 minced garlic cloves
  • 2 diced carrots
  • 3 russet potatoes or big red potatoes diced with skins on
  • 1/2 t. ground pepper
  • 1 t. sea salt
  • 1 t. dried oregano
  • 1 t. dried thyme
  • 1 t. ground black pepper
  • couple dashes of hot sauce.

Cook over medium heat until onions are slightly soft, and water has evaporated. Add 2 T. white whole wheat flour and cook and stir til everything is really nice and browned, stirring and scraping up browned bits on bottom as you go.

Quickly add:

The Good Stuff:

  • 6 C. quality vegetable stock
  • 1/3 C. tomato paste
  • 4 T. soy sauce
  • 4 T. vegan worcestershire
  • 2 T. pure maple syrup
  • 1/4 c. dry sherry
  • 2 T. cocoa powder (for color)
  • cooked and seasoned soy curls (from above)

Simmer with the lid on over medium-low heat for 30 minutes or until veggies are fork tender

Add:

  • 1 C. cashew cream (from 1/2 C. soaked cashews and 1 C. filtered water blended until thick)
  • 1 C. frozen baby peas.


Serve in mutant bread bowls

Dad’s Cowboy Beans

My Dad, despite being a self-confessed carnivore, is one of the biggest supporters of my new vegan lifestyle. He's seen me go through hell and back so I know it truly makes him happy to see how healthy my diet has made me.

Last week he emailed me and asked me to share a recipe with you that he specifically adapted for us "Veg Heads."

Edward Abbey, Milo, Ken Sleight

To give you a little background on Milo (my dad), he's an animal lover, an environmentalist, a real estate developer and rare book collector. Though some of these things may sound contradictory, he worked hard to make his real estate projects environmentally friendly and when I was a child I remember him going to Washington D.C. on a mission to protect the endangered desert tortoises in the Southern Utah area.

He may best be known for his ability to clear a room with a belch.

Growing up we were always vacationing, going river running or camping. Since there were 9 of us kids, we had to travel in a big vehicle, a giant Chevy Suburban that was aptly named "The Tackle Box."

Dad's Man Cave

Our home was always open to strangers and friends, at any given time there was at least 1 or 2 strays staying with us. We always had plenty of good food. My dad really knows his way around the kitchen and he gave me my unrequited love for mashed potatoes.

The real men of Lydia's Canyon, Dad is second to the right

When it comes to food, I have a 4 day leftover rule. After 4 days it gets chucked out. My dad has closer to a 2 week rule.   Because everyone in the family knows his food rule, one holiday family gathering while we were all at my parents house, we were all afraid to eat Dad's Cowboy Beans because we didn't know how long they'd been incubating the fridge. So while dad made a trip to the store, someone secretly dumped the Cowboy Beans and buried them in the woods. When dad came back in, we pretended we had eaten them. It was at that point he told us he had just made them the day before in anticipation of us all coming to stay. Sorry dad….

Dad's Cowboy Beans

Ingredients:

  • 1 can Kidney beans
  • 1 can white beans
  • 1 can pinto beans
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1 can stewed spiced tomatoes
  • 2 white or yellow onions diced
  • 1 small can green chopped chilies
  • 3 shots (vegan) Worcestershire sauce
  • 3 shots Soy sauce
  • 1 big squirt table mustard and another of Dijon
  • 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
  • ½ C. to 1 full C. brown sugar
  • Salt and pepper as desired

Method: Cook chilies and chopped onions till well done, throw the rest of it in after draining off about ½ of the bean juice and bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat anywhere from ½ hour to 2 days until the flavor and consistency are superb. Eat with big bowl and large spoon. Leave the house and walk 4 miles or one hour after consuming to protect the family and neighbors. 10 servings

Thanks dad for taking these photographs.

Black Bean Veggie Burger with Guac on a Pretzel Bun

Now this is the way to kick off the Vegan MOFO! I’ve been on a quest to perfect the veggie burger since I went veg. It needed to be hearty, not crumble everywhere and taste delicious. I loved the Black Bean Veggie Burger at Smashburger, until I found out that neither the burger nor the bun were vegan and the calorie count was 670 stinking calories and 36 fat grams, -without sides! Blast!

Black Bean Veggie Burger

Adapted, veganized and healthified from this awesome recipe. 

  • 2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1/4 C. chopped cilantro
  • 2 t. hot sauce (I like sriracha)
  • 1/2 C. grated pepper-jack cashew cheez or other vegan cheese shreds
  • 1/4 C. finely minced red onion
  • 2 T. vital wheat gluten or 2 T. ground flax seed (binders, gluten works best for a non-crumbly burger, but if you’re gluten free, flax is a decent sub)
  • 1 t. ground cumin
  • 1/3 C. masa harina (finely ground corn flour, the kind used for making tamales)
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • 1 minced jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed for less heat if desired
  • 2 T. nutritional yeast
  • 1-2 t. spike seasoning
  • 2 T. Water

It really needed a vegan makeover….

Method: In a large bowl, mash beans with a potato masher, leaving some beans whole. Add in all other ingredients and mix with your hands until all combined. Refrigerate burger mixture for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove from fridge, divide into 8 portions. Roll each portion into a ball and smash into a thin 3-4 inch round patty with the palm of your hand. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange patties on tray, spray tops of patties lightly with cooking spray. Bake for 20 -25 minutes, turning once.

Serve up with some of these home baked oven fries (1 potato/sweet potato per person, cut into fries, toss all in a large bowl with a small amount of olive or coconut oil, seasonings/salt/pepper to taste bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy) and this cucumber salad. Top with guac, lettuce, tomato, pickles, sliced onion, sliced jalapeno (if you like it like that), sliced pepper jack cashew cheez (not pictured, used up the last of it in the burgers), organic ketchup or bbq sauce and of course, dijon mustard. Best served on a whole grain pretzel bun… Recipe for the pretzel bun coming tomorrow!

A Very Vedged Out Lasagna

My friend Heidi at Lightly Crunchy once said to me

“I’m curious about how you’d make vegan lasagna. No cheese?”

(okay, this was really in a comment, since we’ve never really ‘met’. She lives in Canada and I live in Utah, and yes, to answer your next question, I’m vegan and I’m a Mormon, and no I don’t have 10 children or any sister wives despite the size of this lasagna)

THIS is how we do it at Vedged Out.

A Very Big Very Vedged Out Lasagna

1 Package whole wheat lasagna noodles (I like Delallo Organic no-boil flat sheets), you can use gluten-free noodles instead if you like – 1 large diced onion – 2 grated carrots – 2 stalks celery, diced – 5 minced garlic cloves, divided – 1 large diced eggplant – 8 oz. diced mushrooms – 1 head broccoli, chopped – 2 diced zucchini or summer squash – 2 C. chopped baby spinach leaves – 1/2 C. Chopped black olives (or kalamata or green olives depending on your preference) – kernels cut from 1 ear of corn (or 1/2 C. frozen corn) – 1 block sprouted firm tofu – 2 T. nutritional yeast – 1 t. each of dried thyme, basil, parsley and oregano – couple dashes red pepper flakes – 4 oz of this awesome cashew cheez minus the crushed red pepper flakes or other lame vegan cheez – 3 cups unsweetened almond milk – 4 T. whole wheat pastry flour (or 2 T. cornstarch for gluten-free version) – one 28 oz can Muir Glen Fire Roasted Organic Crushed Tomatoes – one 15 oz can Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce.

Method: Water sauté onions, celery and carrots until translucent, add all other veg except 2 cloves of the garlic and the spinach. Cook for 5 minutes more until veggies are crisp tender. Add fire roasted crushed tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

Crumble tofu into a bowl, add 1 clove minced garlic, the spinach and the nutritional yeast, stir it all together.

In a small saucepan heat the almond milk and the flour or cornstarch, when it comes to a boil, add in the cashew cheez and the last remaining clove of garlic, salt to taste. This is your cheez sauce.

Assembly time! Using a deep dish lasagna pan, pour 1/2 can of the tomato sauce in the bottom. Level it out with a spoon until the bottom is covered in sauce, place 3 lasagna sheets over the sauce, then layer with half of the veggie mixture. Add 3 more lasagna sheets. Layer the tofu mixture and 1 C. of the cheez sauce over the top. Add 3 more lasagna sheets, your next layer you will do the remaining half of the veggie mixture, the remaining half of the tofu mixture and one more cup of the white sauce.

Add your final layer of pasta sheets, top with the other half of the tomato sauce, then drizzle with the cheez sauce.

Bake uncovered for 60 minutes at 375 degrees. Let cool for 20 minute before serving if you don’t want sloppy lasagna. Even better and less sloppy on the second day.

p.s. this dish makes 12 filling servings, you can easily halve the recipe and bake it in a 9×9 square dish. It has zero cholesterol (duh, veggies don’t have cholesterol), is super low in fat and crazy high in fiber. You can really use whatever veg you have on hand, but perhaps not cabbage, or for that matter, brussels sprouts.

Check out Vegan Bloggers Unite today, my first post is live there! Are you a Vegan Blogger? You can post there too.

The lovely Lidia who runs the site is always looking for new material. 🙂 Check out the deets here.